1. It is a human evil, horrifying in its inhumanity.”
MODERN SLAVERY
“In few other crimes are human beings used as commodities over and over again.
It is a human evil, horrifying in its inhumanity.”
The UK’s Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, Kevin Hyland

2. WHAT IS MODERN SLAVERY?
The abuse and exploitation of vulnerable men, women and children, for criminal profit.
They are forced to work long hours for little or no wages They often live in filthy, squalid and overcrowded conditions with poor hygiene facilities
They end up in endless debt to their ‘employer’
They and their families are threatened with violence if they try to leave
And so they become trapped

3. HOW BIG A PROBLEM IS IT? 819 of them were British nationals
Experts say there are up to 13,000 people trapped in modern slavery in the UK
Most of them are trafficked here from overseas, but there are also growing numbers of British nationals living in slavery here too
Last year, UK authorities identified a total of 5,145 victims
Just over 2,100 were children

4. WHAT KIND OF WORK? 4 broad categories:
Sexual exploitation – mostly women and girls coerced into sex work or sexually abusive situations. Often moved around the country to different pop-up brothels
4 broad categories:
Forced labour – often people are lured to their ‘employment’ by false promises of a better life, and can’t leave because of threats or debt bondage
Criminal exploitation – forced to commit a crime for someone else’s gain. Includes shoplifting, pick-pocketing, cannabis growing, begging, benefit fraud, being forced into a sham marriage
Domestic servitude – typically cleaning, cooking, caring for children or elderly relatives in a private family home. Sometimes exploited by own family or partner.

5. FORCED LABOUR Many different industries:
Nail bars – mainly young women from Vietnam and China
Many different industries:
Agriculture, including poultry farms, flower picking, fruit and veg harvesting – mainly from Romania and Bulgaria
Construction - mainly Eastern European men
Hand car washes – mainly Romanian, but also other Eastern European countries
Shellfish gathering – mainly Chinese
Also cleaners, food processing and packaging, warehousing and distribution, food service, catering and hotels

6. WHAT IS DEBT BONDAGE?
Enslaved workers often run up large debts to their ‘employer’. These might be for:
‘Recruitment fees’ for getting them the job
Travel costs to come to the UK
Food, transport and accommodation costs once they get here
Victims have no control over these expenses and so find themselves automatically building up more debt. Sometimes their employer will deduct expenses directly from their wages, so they become trapped in a vicious circle of endlessly accruing debt and having to keep working to pay it back.

7. (AND WHY DON’T PEOPLE JUST LEAVE?)
HOW DOES IT HAPPEN?
(AND WHY DON’T PEOPLE JUST LEAVE?)
Many are tricked. People who come from situations of poverty and lack of opportunity receive an offer of an apparently good job in the UK. They have to take a loan from the agent to pay for the recruitment fee or the travel.
But once they get here, the job and the conditions are completely different.
Their passport is confiscated, and they’re told they have to pay off the debt before they can leave. Violence or threats are common, both against the victim and their family back home.

8. LURED BY A JOB, THEN TRAPPED IN FORCED LABOUR
A short film from the International Labour Organisation

9. HOW DOES IT HAPPEN? Women are kidnapped and forced into prostitution
Women are groomed by ‘boyfriends’ who build up a relationship with the woman for the sole purpose of using her
Street children lured by traffickers claiming to offer them a better life. Others are kidnapped
Parents even sell their children into slavery.

10. SPOTTING THE SIGNS At a property:
It seems too small for the numbers living there, and is poorly cared for
There are bars on the windows or the curtains are always drawn
People are bundled in and out by others
Large numbers of young women have moved in, and then the property receives lots of visitors
CCTV is installed at the entrance
Electricity has been tacked on from neighbouring properties or directly from power lines

11. SPOTTING THE SIGNS On a person:
They look tired and malnourished, scruffy and unwashed, or have untreated injuries
If from overseas, they don’t speak much English, and allow others to answer questions put to them
They won’t make eye contact; they appear submissive and anxious, and don’t trust authorities
They lack personal possessions
They always seem to be at work

12. SPOTTING THE SIGNS On a child:
Their carer is not their parent or family member, and the relationship does not seem to be positive
They hardly, if ever, go to school
There are several unrelated children at one address
They may appear to have developed a bond with their exploiter and have been groomed not to tell anyone what’s going on

13. SPOTTING THE SIGNS
A short film from Thames Valley Police

14. SPOTTING THE SIGNS At businesses:
Employees at business premises are reluctant to engage with customers, are scruffy and malnourished, and not properly dressed for the work. For example:
Workers at a car wash are wearing flipflops and have no protective clothing, despite constant use of chemical cleaners
Workers picking vegetables have no hats or sunscreen in hot weather, and no warm clothing in cold weather
Workers on a building site have no steel-capped boots or gloves
There are signs that people both work and live onsite, possibly in shipping containers or caravans

15. SPOTTING THE SIGNS
A short film from the Salvation Army

16. WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?
If you think you have seen signs of modern slavery, you can either:
Call the police on 101
Call the Modern Slavery Helpline on
Call the Salvation Army’s 24-hour Referral Helpline on

17. WHAT SHOULD YOU DO? Two free apps you can download to your smartphone:
SAFE CAR WASH is a GPS-enabled app which encourages members of the public to look closely at hand car washes in their area and answer a series of simple questions about the condition of the premises, the behaviour of the staff, and price of the service. At the end, if the answers indicate that the car wash is a base for modern slavery, the app urges the user to call the Modern Slavery Helpline immediately. Data collected through the app will be used by law enforcement agencies to map modern slavery in the car wash industry.
The STOP APP allows anyone who has seen or heard a situation they believe to be linked to human trafficking or modern slavery to share their story, safely and securely – and anonymously, if they wish. All information fed into the STOP APP is analysed and used to build intelligence on global trends and hotspots of human trafficking, helping authorities to predict, prevent and disrupt this criminal activity.
Find both of these on the App Store or Google Play.

18. FOR MORE INFO…
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